In my quest to save mod houses around Houston, I came across a grand 50's house with a huge party/ball room. It has this wood which no one has ever been able to say with certainy what it is, (possibly bocolo rosewood?) the poor house is in desperate need of some luv.

Anyway, I am no TIKI expert, but this wood treatment looks like it would make a good starting point for a tiki theme. What would you do with something like this? Would you consider this a tiki accent? Or just something else altogether.

The house is in the Glenbrook Valley section of Houston, which I have sort of taken under my wing to try and save. There are mod enthusiasts moving in now and saving the houses, but just a couple of years ago basically nobody wanted them, and houses like these were falling into very rough hands. This one is very abused now, but could still be saved. It was on the market, before the listing expired, for $224,900. It is just under 4,200 sq ft on a 15,000 sq ft lot with a pool. They have slathered the downstairs main house with that ugly shiny ceramic floor tile. There are huge formals, a big den with a stone fireplace wall, 3 bedrooms, and then this ballroom + billiards room up above the 3 car garage area. I still hold out hope that at some point someone will step in. If I flip mine I may have to approach them and see if I can get it myself. The present situation is almost more than I can bear!
There are lots of cool houses in there,: http://www.glenbrookvalley.com/index.php?pageId=181786 Thankfully, more and more are falling into more sympathetic hands.

Those wood things are so cool looking! Its good to see people who actually want to save things like this! In alomst every city with a 50's-60's mod or googie style in it, the houses and buildings are in danger of being wiped off the map. There is no telling how many private homes like this have been completely remodeled and the swanky decor chucked into a landfill.

Very cool pad!! I saw some carvings like that in the Philippines that were used as room dividers and made of monkeypod (acacia) which often has the dark wood mixed in with outer layer of white wood.
What are the rents in that area? I am looking for some investment property. Would it cash flow in the positive?
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On 2007-02-22 13:36, TikiMookie wrote:Brickhorn, ouch man! (I've never been to Texas so excuse my ignorance)...

Mookie - I grew up in Houston, and have lived in Austin and Dallas. There's an age-old heated, albeit friendly, debate between Houstonians and Dallasites over which city is better. Of course, even the most loyal of partisans on both sides of the debate agree that Austin is superior to both cities.

On 2007-02-22 13:36, TikiMookie wrote:Brickhorn, ouch man! (I've never been to Texas so excuse my ignorance)...

Mookie - I grew up in Houston, and have lived in Austin and Dallas. There's an age-old heated, albeit friendly, debate between Houstonians and Dallasites over which city is better. Of course, even the most loyal of partisans on both sides of the debate agree that Austin is superior to both cities.

Of course the jab might have stung, had it been coming from someone living in a real city!!!